The Original Darling
by bmo016
Summary: Fluffy one-shots about the baby.
1. Chapter 1

"Alexandra Mikaelson. It really is kind of a mouthful, don't you think?" Hayley asked, smiling down at her cooing daughter, all blue eyes and dirty blonde tuffs of wavy hair.

"I like it," Rebekah replied, "It's strong, and she needs that to make it in this family."

Hayley laughed. She'd given very little thought to baby names and nurseries and motherhood due to the continuing cycle of violence and danger to her life and the baby's since she had come to New Orleans. So when Klaus took the first real interest in their daughter to mention the name to her, it stuck. 'It's a name fitting to the princess of New Orleans,' he'd said, making Hayley roll her eyes and his smirk to deepen. But she had to admit. The little bundle really did look like an Alexandra. The name spoke of power and strength. It fit her. In the few short months since she'd been born, she'd proven that to all of them. First by being born in the middle of her father's war. Then by just surviving. She came out early and there had been complications. They'd managed to save her just in time but it was too close of a call for Hayley. Alexandra hadn't made a sound for several minutes and Hayley shook as she remembered seeing her terror mirrored on Klaus's face, the first time she could ever remember seeing the Original Hybrid himself in fear. Even Elijah, who she depended on more than anyone else in the world to make everything better, seemed at a loss. But Alexandra had made it, and that first piercing scream had nearly shattered every window in the compound, but they didn't care. It was the best sound any of them had ever heard.

And just as the thought crossed Hayley's mind, that same sound cry resounded from her daughter once again.

"Oh come on, Ali, what's wrong?" Hayley asked, rubbing her hands soothingly across her daughter's stomach, "You aren't hungry, you've been changed, you've had a nap. I think I've did my part."

Rebekah grimaced, "What is wrong with her? She sounds like she's being tortured!"

Hayley rolled her eyes, "Babies cry, Rebekah. She probably just needs some attention. She gets that from you."

"Hey, not nice! Here, let me hold her."

Rebekah lifted her niece from her mother's lap and bounced her up and down, talking to her gently and kissing her cheeks. But the baby's cries wouldn't cease, even after several minutes and endless attempts to calm the usually mellow Alexandra from both her mother and aunt.

"She is usually such a peaceful baby. I wonder what's got her so upset?" Hayley paused, looking worriedly at Rebekah, "You don't think she could be like...sick or something, do you?"

"I'm sure she's fine. Nik and Elijah will be back soon and we will get someone to look her at, just in case," Rebekah smiled but her blue eyes glanced nervously down at her niece, who seemed to fidget more and more, her little hands reaching towards the door of the nursery.

The door slammed downstairs, annoucing the arrival of the Original brothers.

"Get someone to look at who?" Klaus asked, stepping into his daughter's nursery and flinching at the sound of her cries, "And what have you both done to her? She sounds like she's being tortured."

"That's what I said," Rebekah replied, though she was not sure her brother could hear her over the shrill shrieks of his daughter.

Alexandra's cries got louder and more insistent as she reached out towards her father, squirming in her aunt's grasp.

"She's been crying like this for awhile and I'm freaking out," Hayley said, "She's never acted this way before."

Elijah followed Klaus into the nursery, studying his niece with curiosity. Her little hands reached toward Klaus with urgency, and the more Rebekah pulled her close the angrier her niece seemed to get.

"Niklaus, take Alexandra from Rebekah."

"Why?"

"Please, brother, humor me."

Klaus nodded and took his daughter from his sister's hands. The screaming ceased as Alexandra's tiny hands curled contently around the collar of his Henley. She whimpered for a few more minutes and then yawned against his shoulder, tucking her little head into the crook of his neck, her own blonde curls matching his exactly.

Elijah chuckled, "It seems her supernatural hearing must exceed yours, Rebekah. Niklaus and I have been outside discussing some pressing matters with Marcel. It appears to me that Alexandra heard her father and was insistent upon his attentions."

"You're telling me that the spoiled little monster just wanted Nik? All that shrieking to get his attention?" Rebekah scoffed, "I don't know if I'm more annoyed or proud."

Hayley rolled her eyes, "You have got to be kidding me. All I went through and she turns into a Daddy's girl? Figures..."

Klaus smiled down at his daughter, "There there, little princess. They are all just jealous. Come. Let's go look at our kingdom."

Alexandra returned his smile, almost as if she knew exactly what he was saying.

"He spoils her. There will be no living with either of them, Elijah!" Rebekah complained, rolling her eyes as her brother strolled from the room with his daughter.

"He is happy. Alexandra is happy. There is a moment of peace in our home, Rebekah. Let it be."

She rolled her eyes and followed her brother out of the room, leaving Hayley and Elijah watching after them.

"It's not bad enough that Ali pops out looking 100% Mikaelson, but she adores him! If she turns into a mini-Klaus I will lose my mind!" Hayley said, shaking her head with a small smile.

"It seems as though she has already inherited a few of his more...charming traits. She's strong-willed and stubborn to say the least," Elijah smiled, "Though I'm not sure that came from only one side of her family."

"Hey! I prefer determined, thank you very much! And I'm glad she's strong. It's the temperamental part that worries me a little."

Elijah sighed, "Yes, it worries me, too. We still don't know everything Alexandra is capable of. She is a darling now but so was Niklaus as a child, so was Rebekah, so was I. Life has a way of taking that part of us away. And if she grows stronger and stronger and loses that part of herself...I don't know what she may do."

"Well, we can't worry about that right now. Let's just enjoy her while we can, ok? The future can worry about itself."

Elijah nodded, watching Hayley head downstairs. He wished he could be more like her sometimes, so focused on the present that the future was nothing more than something to deal with tomorrow. But he wasn't made that way. His family meant more to him than anything else and that included Alexandra now. He, like the rest of his family, was obsessively protective of the child, willing to fight to the last breath for her safety. But how do you keep someone safe from themselves? He'd been trying with Klaus for centuries, and he knew how well that had turned out.

"Elijah, you have that look about you."

He shook his head from his thoughts, turning toward the brother in question, "What look are you speaking of, Niklaus?"

"That look as if the world is on your shoulders."

Elijah sighed. His worries never vanished but the sight of his niece and brother together did wonders to have alleviate some of them. Alexandra really was the spitting image of her father. And it was clear she had him as wrapped as the Original Hybrid could ever be. She had them all wrapped. She was the Darling of the Original Family, and Elijah loved her as unconditionally as any of his family. He would have to learn to take a page from Hayley's book. Love today, worry tomorrow.

"It's nothing, brother. Come. It's almost time for dinner."


	2. Chapter 2

"Come on, Ali! Say it for me, sweetie. BE-KAH."

Alexandra looked up at her aunt from her high chair with curiosity but gave no other indication of being in the mood to learn her name. Instead, she proceeded to spit her breakfast onto Rebekah's nose and giggle when her aunt shrieked.

"You are a little monster sometimes! Everyone else is fooled by those big blue eyes and little doll dimples but I know the truth," Rebekah paused, rolling her blue eyes, "But you never stood a chance of not being a monster, did you?"

Alexandra smiled up at her and she melted a little. It was impossible not to. Alexandra was a mini replica of her beloved brother. And just like she couldn't stay angry with Klaus forever, her frustrations with Alexandra were never long-lived. Curse them both.

"Rebekah, please refrain from referring to our infant niece as a monster. She's a child but she can understand simple words now."

Rebekah scoffed, "The truth hurts, 'Lijah. She should learn it now."

Alexandra grinned at her uncle when he entered the room, cooing and squirming and reaching out her little hands for him eagerly.

"Hello Alexandra," he said, smiling at his niece affectionately, "I do apologize but I can't take you out of the chair until you've finished your breakfast."

She looked at him and then back at her bowl of oatmeal as he attempted to spoon some of it towards her mouth. Realizing her uncle had no intentions of releasing her from the high chair, she scrunched her nose angrily.

Rebekah laughed, "Prepare yourself, Elijah. I know that look."

Elijah had just enough time to step out of the way before Alexandra swiped her tiny hands across the high chair and slung the offending oatmeal bowl to the ground. She peered over the edge of her high chair at the mess and turned back to her aunt and uncle with a wide grin, pleased that the problem was solved.

"Perhaps monster is more of an accurate term than I originally thought," Elijah said with a sigh, rubbing some of the spilled oatmeal from his suit coat.

"That self-satisfied little smirk after creating a disaster? Can't imagine where she gets THAT from," Rebekah scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"I hope you mean your brother because any disaster making gene is all him," Hayley said, chuckling at her daughter, "Hi Ali!"

Her daughter gurgled, attempting to speak but still struggling with forming words. It worried Hayley that she couldn't talk yet but Elijah had assured her that babies talked on their own time schedule. He'd watched all five of his siblings grow up and each had started at different times. Finn had hardly attempted speech until he was almost one year old and even then it was only usually around him or their mother. Niklaus had taken to speech much more quickly, much to the irritation of their father. Elijah had always found it a source of brotherly pride that his first coherent word had been 'Lijah. Kol, to no one's surprise, could speak well before the others' and had not bothered to stop once he started, much to the irritation of the entire Mikaelson clan. Rebekah was a bit more hesitant. When she did learn to speak, the only word she managed for quite a while was Nik and that seemed like all she cared to learn. Niklaus had pretended it annoyed him, always to be the one at her beck and call, but Elijah knew it really didn't. Henrik had not seen much point in speaking. He had five older siblings and two parents who catered to him as the baby so getting what he wanted usually didn't require words. It seemed as if that were the case with Alexandra as well.

"Rebekah, I love you, but letting you feed Ali is more work for me than doing it myself," Hayley said, laughing at the mess on the floor.

Rebekah scoffed, "Can I help it if your demon child decided to get haughty and share her breakfast with the floor?"

"What happened?"

Elijah smiled, "It seems as though breakfast was not high on Alexandra's priority list for the morning and she decided to rush things along the hard way."

"It's never the easy way with a Mikaelson," Hayley replied, rolling her eyes, "Come on, little disaster. Let's get you cleaned up so we can go."

"Where are you both going?" Elijah asked, following her from the kitchen.

"I am going to a meeting with the pack. Alexandra is going to stay with Cami and Davina."

"Do you think that alliance is a good idea?"

"They are not an alliance, Elijah. They are friends. And part of the reason Alexandra is still alive."

Elijah nodded. It was true that the little bartender and the Harvest witch had helped to protect Alexandra right after she was born. But that didn't mean he trusted them. These days he didn't trust anyone.

"I'm just trying to keep you both safe."

"I know that but you're getting as bad as Klaus these days. The war affected us all and I know it shook you, almost losing us. But I can't live my life constantly worried about the next threat. Because there's always going to be one, Elijah. It's never going to be ok. I need friends, a support system outside of this family and the pack," she sighed, "I really need to be able to trust again."

He watched her head upstairs with a frown. He understood her need to surround herself with people. For a foster kid who had spent most of her life alone, having people around her was a necessary evil. But that didn't mean he had to like it.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, dialing quickly and walking out the front doors of the compound, "Brother, we have a situation."

"Well don't stand on ceremony, 'Lijah. I don't have all day."

"Were you aware of your daughter's babysitting detail?"

Klaus frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"Hayley has some sort of meeting and she's leaving my niece with a human and a semi-powerful child witch as her only means of protection. I was curious about whether or not this nonsense was something you had approved of."

"I'll be there in five minutes. Don't let her leave the house."

Elijah grinned. Hayley would be furious but she'd left him with little choice really. He turned back into the house, only to almost crash head on with his sister.

"'Lijah, what did you do?"

"Rebekah, don't be dramatic. I just thought Niklaus needed to know that his only child was being left alone with people we cannot trust."

Rebekah rolled her eyes, "Hayley's right. You're worse than he is lately! Ali is her daughter, too; a fact that both my idiot brothers seem to constantly overlook! Do you think Hayley would do anything she thought would put her in danger?"

He sighed, "I know she thinks what she's doing is not harmful, Rebekah."

"What are you two talking about?"

Rebekah grinned up at Hayley standing in the doorway, "The brother I thought was the more intelligent of the lot has gone and tattled to the other as if we were children again!"

Hayley whirled on Elijah, her eyes narrowed, "You called Klaus? After I specifically told you I had this handled? Really?"

"And a good thing it was he did, little wolf," Klaus said, appearing by his brother's side, "Otherwise, your next step could be to leave our child with the first stranger you happen upon on the streets."

Hayley rolled her eyes, "Cami and Davina are not strangers! Everyone in this household knows them. You are both being overprotective and domineering and I cannot take it right now. I have too much to deal with for this!"

"Hayley, I was only trying to..." Elijah started.

"Protect me and Ali. Yeah, I get that. Really, I do! But this is MY life and MY daughter and..."

Klaus frowned, "Correction, love. OUR daughter. And I personally don't care for the idea of her being pawned off on people I barely trust to water our plants! And who have both been on a path to kill me within the past two years!"

"Oh that was ages ago! And you are one to talk about being on a path to kill someone!"

Rebekah watched back and forth between the argument like a tennis match until she heard a soft noise beneath the yelling.

"Da...Da...Da."

"Shut up! The lot of you! Listen!" she screeched, turning to her niece who Hayley had sat in her baby bouncer.

Klaus, Elijah and Hayley paused, turning to face Alexandra as she bounced up and down, her hands waving insistently at them.

"Did she just say..." Hayley began, eyes wide.

"Dada Dada!" she repeated, giggling.

"She...she can talk," Rebekah stuttered, beaming down at her niece.

Klaus stood frozen, unable to speak, prompting his daughter to become a bit more demanding and she began to screech, much as her aunt had done earlier.

"I believe you are being summoned, Brother," Elijah said, the corners of his mouth turning up in a proud grin, "Perhaps you should acquiesce before she shatters the windows."

Klaus shook his head, reaching down towards his daughter, causing her to squeal with happiness. He lifted her from the bouncer and she put a tiny hand to his cheek, twin grins gracing both their faces.

"You can go to your meeting in the bayou, Hayley. I will stay here," he said, "Come along, little love."

The fight forgotten, Hayley nodded, her face a mixture of shock and pride.

"Talking. Wow," she said, turning towards the door, "Next thing you know she'll be driving and dating!"

Klaus paused on the stairs, his muscles scrunching, "Well that's not going to happen."

"You can't tell her she can't date anyone, Klaus. That's not your decision!" Hayley said, turning back towards them.

As the argument picked up once again, Rebekah rolled her eyes. Peace was always short-lived in the Mikaelson house.


End file.
